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Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
The Qualifying Examination (Qual) is an in-depth exam covering the areas of computer science most relevant to the student's research. The format of the exam is determined by the faculty in the research area that the student belongs to, or wishes to join. A common form of the exam is an oral presentation and analysis of specified papers from relevant research literature. Candidates must attempt the Qual no later than the fourth semester (no later than the third semester with an approved Masters degree). All core coursework requirements must be complete, and a doctoral thesis advisor agreement must be on file with the Academic Office, to be eligible to take the Qual. Students are responsible for finding their own thesis adviser. Quals are held during a two-week period, starting on the Monday closest to the fourth week of each fall and spring semester. In the semester prior to the Qual, candidates will be asked to submit a "Qual Statement". The PDF form is available at agora.cs.uiuc.edu/display/grad/Forms. This outline of the student's research interests is forwarded to the appropriate research area committee. The area committee appoints three faculty members whose research matches the stated interests, as the examining committee, and, in many cases, select research papers to be studied by the candidate for the exam. The student is notified by the examining research area of the date, location, and necessary materials for the exam. A student who fails the Qual may, at the discretion of the examining committee, be allowed one more attempt to pass it at the next offering (the semester immediately following the first attempt). If the Qual is not passed in two attempts, the student may request to complete the M.S. if within the five semester maximum completion policy and if no previous M.S. was completed elsewhere in Computer Science. The Graduate College does not allow the conferral of duplicate Masters degrees. All other requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Graduate Study Committee.
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